Hydraulically operated valve unit



Nov. 5, 1935.

VA. E. JURS HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED VALVE UNIT Original Filed March 25,19s;

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Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE Shand & Jurs Company,Berkeley, Calif., a copartnership consisting oi Reginald C. Shand andAlbert E. Jurs Original application March 25, 1931, Serial No. 525,152.Divided and this application June 6,

1934, Serial No. 729,185

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to valve units which are adapted foroperation by application of liquid under pressure, and which are usefulin conjunction with systems for dispensing liquid from tanks or tankcompartments. The subjectmatter disclosed and claimed herein has beendivided from my co-pending application Serial No. 525,152, filed March25, 1931, now Patent No. 1,976,445 granted Oct. 9, 1934, and entitled"Valve control system.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel valve unitconstruction of the above character, having provision for venting orbleeding off trapped air or gas from the closed liquid chamber of thesame. In this connection the invention is characterized by the fact thatsuch trapped air can be vented without removing the unit from the tankwith which it may be associated, and without utilizing an undesirablevent tube extending upwardly from the unit to the top of the tank.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has beenset forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, in cross-section, illustrating avalve unit incorporating the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional detail taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

The valve unit .as illustrated in the drawing consists of a body It,which is a part of a general mounting for securing the unit to thebottom wall H of a liquid tank or tank compartment. The body is formedhollow to afford a passage l2 therethrough for flow of liquid from thetank. Conduit B3, to receive the liquid, is shown suitably connected tothe body Ill and in communication with the passage 12. Formed upon theupper part of the body it there is an annular valve seat M which isadapted to co-operate with a movable valve member designated generallyat 16. form a detachable connection between the body it and the bottomwall ll of the tank, any one of a number of suitable expedients can beadopted, such as an annular ring l-l having a weld connection It withthe bottom wall H, and having a threaded connection I9 with the body 10.

For effecting movement of the valve member l 6 between open and closedpositions with respect to the valve seat it, by application of liquidunder pressure from a suitable source, such as a hydraulic actuator, Iprovide a piston assembly 2!) which co-operates with an associatedcylinder 2 5. Cylinder 2!. formsthe upper part of a shell, the lowerportion 22 of which is enlarged or bellshaped to carry the movable valvemember IS. The upper end of the cylinder 2| is enclosed by a cap 23,certain features of which will presently be explained.

The piston assembly 20 is formed upon the upper end of an uprighttubular standard 24. The lower end of this standard is secured to aninner unstanding member 26 which can be formed as a part of the body Illand which is shown connected to the remainder of the body by the radialarms 21. To form the piston assembly. 20, the upper end portion ofstandard 24 is of reduced external diameter to carry a cup washer 23which is held in place by the nut 29.

The lower face of valve member It preferably carries a suitable sealingring 3| to more effectively seal with respect to the valve seat It, andthe sealing ring is retained by suitable means, such as an internal nut32. This nut is apertured to accommodate the standard 2%, and thereforelikewise serves, in conjunction with the piston assembly 25, to guidethe vale member and the cylinder 2i, and thus prevent lateraldisplacement. In order to normally urge or bias valve member it togetherwith cylinder 2 I toward closed position, there is shown a compressionspring 33,

the upper end of which seats upon a flange 3t 25 carried by standard 24,and the lower end of which seats upon nut 32. Upward movement of thevalve member is limited by engagement of nut 32 with shoulder 35.

The space 36 above the piston assembly 20 forms a closed chamber forreceiving liquid under pressure, to effect operation of the valve unit;Externally of the tank, the body it] connects with a tube or pipe 31,which leads to a suitable source of liquid pressure, such as a hydraulicactuator of the type disclosed in my aforesaid co-pending applicationSerial No. 525,152. Pipe 31 communicates with chamber 35 through passage38 in the body it, and passage 39 extending upwardly through thestandard 2t. When a suit-- 40 able liquid, such as oil, is deliveredunder pressure through pipe 3'5, hydraulic pressure in chamber 35 servesto lift cylinder 2| together with the valve member 16 to open position,against the pressure of compression spring 33. At such time liquidmayflow from the tank through the passage lil and the conduit 13. Whenthe applied liquid pressure is released, the force of spring 33 issufficient to deliver liquid from chamber 35- back through passage 38and pipe 57, so that the valve member it is closed upon seat l4. Ifdesired, the seat may be surrounded by a suitable screen or strainer 48.

In a valve unit such as described above, there should be substantiallyno trapped air or gas within the closed chamber at. The presence of a,substantial amount of trapped air at this point or within theconnections between this chamber and the hydraulic actuator, will makefor improper operation or may even render the system entirelyinoperative. This is for the reason that, since air or gas is highlycompressible, a considerable quantity of liquid must first be delivered7 by the actuator to eifect compression of the air or gas, after whichthe valve is lifted from closed position. If the hydraulic actuator isdesigned to deliver a definite predetermined quantity of liquid, thepresence of trapped air may cause the valve unit to be actuated to onlypartially open position, or may result in no appreciable openingmovement. As a novel means to permit bleeding of trapped air fromchamber 36, I have shown a pocket 4| extending upwardly into cap 23,with the lower end of the same in communication with the main portion ofchamber 35. Extending up into pocket 4| there is a bleed or vent tube42, the upper end of which is open. The lower end of the vent tubecommunicates with a passage 53 formed in the body [0, and the lower endof this passage is normally sealed by a removable plug 44. It is evidentthat any trapped air or gas will find its way into chamber 36and pocket4 I. If sufiicient air exists to interfere with proper operation of thevalve unit, plug 44 is temporarily removed and sufiicient pressure isapplied to the liquid to expel the air down through the bleed tube 41and out through the lower end of passage 43. When all of the air hasbeen expelled in this manner (which the operator can readily determineby a flow of oil down through passage 43), this passage is again sealedby plug 44.

The mode of operation of my device, and its desirable characteristics,will be evident from the above description. Although the closed liquidchamber 36 is elevated with respect to the pipe connection 31, trappedair existing after initial installation, or air which may haveaccumulated over a period of operation, can be readily vented withoutremoving the valve unit from its operative positioning with respect tothe tank. Likewise, the construction described obviates the necessity ofproviding a vent tube extending from the valve unit to the top of thetank, which would be undesirable.

I claim:

1. A hydraulic pressure-operated valve unit for dispensing liquid fromtanks or tank compartments, comprising a mounting adapted to be securedto the lower wall of a tank, a stationary valve seat carried by saidmounting, said mounting having a passage therethrough for flow of liquidfrom the tank to the exterior thereof, a piston disposed within the tankand fixed with respect to the mounting, a movable cylinder surroundingthe piston, a valve member secured to the cylinder and co-operating withsaid valve seat, said piston together with the cylinder forming a closedchamber for receiving liquid under pressure to operate the valve betweenopen and closed positions, a normally closed vent passage leading fromthe upper portion of said chamber through said piston and through saidmounting to the exterior thereof, and a passage forming a hydraulicconnection from an exterior source of liquid under pressuure to saidchamber, said last passage likewise extending through said piston andsaid mounting.

2. A hydraulic pressure-operated valve unit for dispensing liquid fromtanks or tank compartments, comprising a mounting adapted to be securedto the lower wall of a tank, a stationary valve seat carried by saidmounting, said mounting having a passage therethrough for fiow of liquidfrom the tank to the exterior thereof, a piston disposed within the tankand fixed with respect to the mounting, a movable cylinder surroundingthe piston, a valve member secured to I the cylinder and co-operatingwith said valve seat,

said piston together with the cylinder forming a closed chamber forreceiving liquid under pressure to operate the valve between open andclosed positions, the upper portion of said chamber being a pocket ofreduced cross-sectional area compared to the main portion of the same, anormally closed vent passage leading downwardly from the upper part ofsaid pocket through said piston and through said mounting to theexterior thereof, and a passage forming a hydraulic connection from anexterior source ofliquid under pressure to said chamber.

3. A hydraulic pressure-operated valve unit for dispensing liquid fromtanks or tank compartments, comprising a mounting adapted to be securedto the lower wall of a tank, a stationary valve seat carried by saidmounting, said mounting having a passage therethrough for flow of liquidfrom the tank to the exterior thereof, a piston disposed within the tankabove said passage, means including webs extending across said passagefor securing the piston to said mounting, a movable cylinder surroundingthe piston, a valve member secured to the cylinder and cooperating withthe valve seat, said piston together with the cylinder forming a closedchamber Ior receiving liquid under pressure to operate the valve betweenopen and closed positions, 9. normally closed vent passage leading fromthe upper portion of said chamber through said piston, through one ofsaid webs, and through said mounting to the exterior thereof, and apassage forming a hydraulic connection from an exterior source of liquidunder pressure to said chamber, said last passage likewise extendingthrough said piston, through another one of said webs, and through saidmounting.

4. A hydraulic pressure-operated valve unit ior dispensing liquid fromtanks or tank compartments, comprising a mounting adapted to be securedto the lower wall of a tank, a stationary valve seat carried by saidmounting, said mounting having a passage therethrough for flow of liquidfrom the tank to the exterior thereof, a piston disposed within the tankabove said passage, means including webs extending across said passagefor securing the piston to said mounting, a movable cylinder surroundingthe piston, a valve member secured to the cylinder and cooperating withthe valve seat, said piston together with the cylinder forming a closedchamber for receiving liquid under pressure to operate the valve betweenopen and closed positions, the upper portion of said chamber being apocket of reduced cross-sectional area compared to the main portion ofthe same, a normally closed vent passage extending from the upper partof said passage through said piston, through oneof said webs, andthrough said mounting to the exterior thereof, and a passage forming ahydraulic connection from an exterior source of liquid under pressure tosaid chamber, said last passage likewise extending through said piston,through another one of said webs, and through'said mounting.

ALBERT E. JURS.

